


Sail

by cledritch



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cruise Ship, Charity Auctions, Developing Friendships, Flirting, I Don't Even Know, Kun is so done, M/M, Musicians Ten and Johnny, Sheltered Sicheng, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Welcome to the Limitless Cruise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 20:51:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10907235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cledritch/pseuds/cledritch
Summary: There is no denying that there are one-of-a-kind experiences in being on this cruise, meeting each other might as well be one of them.





	Sail

Johnny has seen many pretty things in his job. It comes with how his old college friend basically roped him into playing for their band, playing some piano when the mood was fit and arranging their songs that helped them become in demand for bars and several other establishments. Ten who was already rubbing shoulders with the influential because of his family’s status and his charismatic demeanor had managed to land them a gig that secured them higher wage and better living arrangements.

“Live a little!” were Ten’s words when he first told Johnny about the idea, hands covered in grease stains from the pizza they were sharing and smiling like he knew Johnny wouldn’t refuse. He wasn’t that wild as he was back in college because he had to bustle with the work load given to him on a job he didn’t like and Ten’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on him already.

“Sure, why not?” he had said and never regretted it ever since.

They have been employed for the cruise ship Limitless for a year now and the manager in charge for the staff had complimented them so much not only for their music but also because of how they always lifted the mood of the other staff members who were often homesick because of the grueling trips that they needed to embark on before they could go home to their families. Johnny and Ten liked to think of them as family themselves, making friends with their coworkers until they already know everyone by name that there was no need for shyness or awkward conversation. They’d swing by the engineering deck below to speak with Hansol who often fixed the technical problems concerning anything that required gears, playing cards with him to cure his boredom then hiding said deck from the guard who made patrols. Sometimes Johnny exchanged stories about America, his old hometown, with Mark who helped in the kitchen and Ten would barge in to tease the kid of liking someone who he once saw in the middle class dining room. Sometimes Johnny had tea with the captain of the ship, Taeil who wasn’t that much older than him but he’s already been giving so many opportunities because he always dreamed of this.

They play music for every social class, no exceptions because music doesn’t have to be selective of what your status was. Besides, as Taeil had worded it to him “The social class differentiation isn’t really about separating the rich folk with the common. It’s just to help the seating be more equal because have you ever seen anyone fight over it here?”

It was true. Sometimes the working class went to the first class dining and some of the middle class passengers would partake in the dance offs the working class loved to instigate in the times the band played for them. Everyone knew everyone in the ship, sharing pleasantries with them that Johnny has never felt any kind of hatred between the passengers who were mostly familiar faces.

He’s seen the prettiest foreigners, varying kinds of beauty that was so different from the last and he’s gotten a few advances from them while Ten has befriended a lot of people who were never stingy when giving them tips. There was nothing ordinary of the ship’s interior that despite the way that people said the first class was the best service they could offer, they managed to build everything so that it brought comfort and still look presentable that you wouldn’t know the difference. Everything was beautiful and sometimes Johnny wondered how lucky they were to be here. He’s bought a house for his mother with his earnings from this, told her that he will come home after he’s done with his last months on his contract and there really is nothing bad he can say about his job. He plays music and he enjoys it along with the luxuries given to him for doing what he loves.

Then there is the one event that makes Limitless a very in demand cruise.

 

Johnny has only seen the event happen a handful of times.

His band is one of the few handfuls that get to stay in the room as they prepare to play for the guests to set the mood. Mostly jazz and electronic if the request needed them to and Johnny didn’t understand what was happening because so many people were filtering inside to create a large crowd that covered the small stage set up at the end of the room.

He doesn’t know what it’s called really, hell, even Ten just calls it “the auction” like the lame one he was that he wanted to hit him by the shoulder with his instrument. He knows how it works though: they raise bids until someone overbids the rest before the lights are dimmed and they stop playing as there is a hush inside the room while they escort someone inside that is handed to the winner.

Johnny doesn’t know why his heart often jumps to his throat when he saw the boy.

He’s seen a lot of pretty things in this cruise but this boy somehow blurs them all away with how he just knocks the breath out his lungs.

Thin and lithe, a dancer’s physique he assumes wearing a suit that makes him look so young. He can’t place an age because the boyish qualities of him are mixed with bright eyes framed with long lashes and plump lips that are bitten down every second they tint red. His black hair is swept to the side that strands often brush against his eyes and long, delicate fingers tuck them away.

Ten nudged him, asking him if he was alright that he has to look away and when he looks back, he was gone.

 

The boy only ever comes out when it’s that auction. He’s walked around the ship to hopefully find him again, making Ten and Mark come with him on places that he might miss and ask around their acquaintances. Mark often rolled his eyes at them in pity because he wished him and Ten were together to which Johnny would ruffle his hair to tell him that Ten already has someone.

It took him three days before he knew who they were. They finished up playing for the night, the middle class this time where Mark is catering the food for the guests when he moved to Ten’s side to harshly whisper “I think I know who might know about Johnny-hyung’s crush but I can’t talk to them alone.”

Johnny turned red at the notion but doesn’t deny it. Ten smirked at him for it but he lets Mark guide them to a table where there is a red-haired boy eating his mashed potatoes sloppily, gravy streaking the corner of his mouth. He looked up, sees Mark semi-hiding behind Johnny and flushed as he grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth. “Can I help you?” he demanded, eyes not leaving Mark as the redness of his cheeks worsen “I didn’t break that window, I swear.”

“Ah, no, it’s not about-“

“You really want me to get into trouble, huh?” the boy hissed, eyes darting to the two older boys and sassily jutted his chin up to show he wasn’t going to back down.

Mark whispered “He doesn’t like me apparently but he was there at the front of the auction” into Ten’s ear and Johnny chuckled.

He smiled at the boy, leaning down “I have something to ask really.”

The boy squinted at him in suspicion. “He didn’t bring you as back up?” he pointed his fork at Mark like a weapon.

A shake of his head. “You know about the auction? You were there right?”

“Ah, yeah. My mom likes to look at that stuff. Said something about trying to predict the highest bid and all. Grown up stuff that I really don’t care about.”

“Interesting. What were they bidding for?”

“Before I tell you, promise me you’re not going to try and throw me overboard.” The boy said, trying to look at Johnny in the eye and continued scooping mashed potato into his mouth.

Johnny nodded, finding this boy funny and wondering if this was the one Ten said Mark liked before. “What’s your name? I’m Johnny and I assure you I won’t.”

“An exchange, nice,” the boy whistled, mouth full “I’m Donghyuck,” he finished his food before he finished his words “They’re bidding for that boy.”

Johnny’s face paled, hands turning to fists because of the implication of that and it must have shown what he was thinking because Donghyuck waved his hands at him “Ah, not that trafficking stuff. It’s just one date, no funny business because the boy is giving the money for charity projects.”

His relief came like a tidal wave and he thanked Donghyuck before ushering his two friends away before they could protest.

Johnny saw the way Mark looked over his shoulder to maybe say something to Donghyuck but their eyes meet instead and Dongyuck rushed off to go who knows where. He can’t help but feel a little bad because Mark is constantly surrounded by adults that he’s grown more mature than his age suggests so having someone around his age might help.

Johnny knew Donghyuck liked Mark. But he probably needs more coaxing before that happened. He’ll have to help him later after he dealt with his own problems.

 

Ten is cleaning the neck of his guitar with a cloth inside their shared room when he starts asking. “So, you think he’s going to show up again?”

“Who?” Johnny replied as he looked up from the sheets of paper filled with indistinguishable scribbling and random shapes. He’s trying to think of a rhythm to match the song they chose for tomorrow but he can’t find the right tempo for it and so he had to start all over again. The manager had asked them to make it a song that people can slow dance to because they were celebrating a sponsor of the ship’s birthday and had prepared a program for them to follow where everyone was invited.

“Your crush? The one who got you so messed up you can’t concentrate?” Ten wriggled his brows at him and Johnny threw a crumpled piece of paper at him.

“What’s the point? He’s out of my league at this point.”

His friend merely clicked his tongue and placed down his guitar back to its case before giving Johnny a one-armed hug and shaking him a bit. Johnny couldn’t stop the smile with how Ten is just grinning at him “When does Seo Johnny ever give up, huh? Who knows, he might find tall and clumsy endearing.”

He pushed him off still, faking disgust on his face “Get your sappiness away from me.”

“Says the king of sappiness!” Ten bit back and they laughed louder until the guard from outside knocked on their door to shut them up.

 

The music was different from what Johnny is used to during their old sessions.

He’s switched out to take a smoke break, something he usually did after performances to relieve the tension in him after the stress of all the preparations and the grueling night before where they needed to rehearse for last minute preparations. He’s not a frequent smoker but he enjoyed the occasional cigarette offered on the stands for anyone who wants any, signs where they could smoke freely without disturbing anyone who has health problems or just not a fan of smoking. It was hard to find a smoking area near the dining room so he can still monitor the band but grace of God, he did find one where he could see the small stage set up as well.

Johnny plucked a stick from the packet, placing it between his lips as he flicked his lighter and using his hand to shield the flame from the winds as he stared at the ember forming. He inhaled as it glowed brighter, using his middle and forefinger to hold the cigarette before blowing smoke out in circles. He’s learned it from Taeyong and Ten still envied him for it.

He’s finished the first, crushing the butt with the heel of his shoe and had held another stick between his lips when he heard the door open. He lighted the end of his cigarette, thinking it was just another smoker in need of nicotine in their system that he blew his smoke out as he usually did.

And it hit someone who had the unfortunate luck of walking past him right on their face.

“Oh my god!” he yelled when the person stumbled back and coughed violently, sneezing a little before he rubbed his face to get rid of the smoke “I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t-“

“It’s-“Their voice is deeper as they hacked a bit to clear their throat, waving their hand to disperse the remaining wisps of smoke “-it’s fine.”

Johnny placed his cigarette on one of the ash trays to see if the person was alright before stopping right as he made a step forward when he moved away from obstructing the light that he can see the person’s features.

It’s that boy.

He’s looked so dolled up, dark liner making his eyes wider and his eyelids are dusted with a light sheen of glitter that glinted when he blinked. His lips were still red as he recalled, making skin seem to glow more and it didn’t help that his white tunic looked thin that when he moved Johnny could see the outline of his arms and torso without meaning to. He did however also see the way the boy was shivering in the cold winds.

“Do you need any water?” he said, hoping he was alright and sighing in relief when the boy shook his head as he stood straight to meet Johnny’s eyes.

“I’m okay, sir.” He greeted, his words sounding so foreign that Johnny can’t help but think how he must be a foreigner as well.

He shook his head at the sir on the end and gulped because his throat is dry from both the nicotine and the way the boy is tilting his head curiously at him. “Hey, I’m pretty sure I’m not that old.”

The boy smiled, hiding it behind his oversized sleeve that he tucked under his fingers. “Perhaps. How old?”

Johnny can’t help chuckling at him “Do you ask strangers their ages? It’s very rude.”

“Ah, no, no!” he panicked, bowing a complete ninety-degree angle that Johnny can see his nape that’s also dusted with glitter before he stood back up that ruffled his hair to the point it revealed his forehead “My name is Sicheng.”

There’s an odd protectiveness that settled in Johnny’s chest when he heard the immediate response without even thinking about it. “Has anyone ever told you it’s not a good idea to give your name away to strangers?”

Sicheng chuckled lightly “Strangers are friends who you haven’t met yet.”

Johnny can’t help but stifle laughter behind his mouth. Sicheng looked like he genuinely believed in it that he can’t help but wonder whoever taught him such a silly phrase. There’s nothing that suggested Sicheng was offended by it though as he started rubbing his arms as a cold wind blew past them.

He looks cold, he thought and without any hesitation, Johnny shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Sicheng’s shoulders that made him catch a whiff of strawberry perfume when he moved closer.

Sicheng smiled even wider, teeth in full display and he tilted his head in a cute manner “No stranger gives this much kindness to another,” he slips his arms into the coat that it almost swallowed his frame “We’re friends.”

“I’m honored to be friends with a gem like you.” Johnny winked at him, delighted at the red that tinged those puffy cheeks that he couldn’t resist the urge to pinch them lightly.

Sicheng just stared at him with those twinkling eyes and he wants to pocket him forever. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous but he’s a lot more concerned of anyone trying to take advantage of Sicheng even if he may as well be one of them.

Screw it, he is one of them and it made him retreat his hand away from the boy’s soft cheek.

“Aren’t you with anyone? It’s dangerous to be alone here.”

The laughter that came with Sicheng’s visage dimmed as it is replaced with a tight line on his lips that he crossed his arms. The change of attitude floored Johnny that he wondered if he was better off keeping his mouth shut but Sicheng just grumbled.

“Taeil-hyung said the same thing when he saw me walking towards the deck and is probably on his way to get Kun-gē,” the slump on his shoulders made him seem like he was trying to fold himself in half and Johnny chuckled at it “They wanted a party for me too but every night, I have to entertain rich and elitist people because they paid for my time.”

Sicheng moved closer to him, leaning on the wall beside the open window where he can look over the dining room where a crowd has been gathered and looked up at Johnny, the harsh lights that casted over his face made him look weary and tired. Johnny couldn’t look away.

“Do you not like the party?” he asked quietly, hands wringing together before he gave up and carded his fingers through his hair “Or you already know who I am.” To which he pursed his lips and seemed to sink deeper into Johnny’s coat.

Johnny reached out, much to Sicheng’s surprise and patted his head “I’m not one for partying. Besides, I do know you,” he made sure to chastise the flinch he felt Sicheng do by slowly massaging his fingers down his scalp “We’re friends now.”

Sicheng’s booming laughter was so loud it echoed that some guests looked up to see the commotion and Johnny made a quick move to pin Sicheng on the wall with both hands beside his head to shield him from their sight. A squeak slipped past Sicheng’s lips as he raised his hands to defend himself but only managing to place his hands on Johnny’s chest.

“Do friends do this too?” Sicheng smiled, a quirk on the corner of his lip that made him seem to be enjoying the scoff that Johnny makes when he said that.

Johnny replied with a playful roll of his eyes and moved away when he was sure no one was looking over to where they were “Careful. Not all strangers bear good intentions.”

Sicheng looked up at him and despite their height difference not that pronounced, it still made Johnny feel heat creep up the nape of his neck especially when there is a mischievous glint in Sicheng’s eyes that bleed into his voice when he said “Good thing I ran into you.”

It’s compelling to return that gaze and Johnny doesn’t realize he is doing so until the door banged open, making him flinch as he saw Taeil emerge with a worried look followed by an unfamiliar man who seemed exasperated when his eyes found Sicheng’s who looked at him in surprise.

Taeil let out a sigh of relief when he moved to touch Sicheng as if to check if he had any injuries and lightly hit him on his shoulder “I thought you got into trouble again. God, you stupid kid,” he turned to Johnny, eyebrows knitting “Johnny? What are you doing here?”

Johnny shrugged, looking over Sicheng who is passed over to the brown-haired male who immediately pulled at his ear that made the other yelp in pain. “Smoking.”

Taeil didn’t seem convinced at that and it’s probably not because of his bad habit that Johnny had to show his cigarette butt inside the ashtray to emphasize his point. The elder didn’t like that he smoked and often slipped some of the negative effects that nicotine can give you but he didn’t completely forbid Johnny either that they got a standstill he wouldn’t meddle as long as he didn’t know. “You’re probably going to get tar in your lungs but that’s not really the issue right now,” he sided up next to Johnny to make sure the other two didn’t hear them “Why is Sicheng with you? Do you know each other?”

“Taeil-hyung, we need to go. The celebrant has to be there and not doing some weird rendezvous with strangers.” the male sighed as Sicheng rolled his eyes at him, sticking out his tongue behind his back. Taeil nodded at him and he looked back to Johnny to get the answer to his question the same time Sicheng is addressing the male who is scolding him.

“He’s my friend.” Johnny and Sicheng turned to each other, laughing a little at their unison that made Taeil smile too but he hid his chuckle behind his hand.

“Kun-ge, you’re seriously too uptight,” Sicheng muttered when Kun grabbed his arm and pushed him out the door with another sigh that reminded Johnny of a parent trying to reprimand their rowdy child because Sicheng pushed against the outstretched arm trying to push him back to wave at Johnny, “It was a pleasure to meet a new friend, Johnny-ge!”

Johnny waved back with a wide smile before Kun gave him a questionable look as he pushed Sicheng back into the doorway and following him, their voices quite loud as Sicheng protested about Kun not believing in him. He turned back to Taeil who is shaking his head at him “What?”

The elder sighed, waving his hand to the side “Nothing, nothing,” he dismissed the question as he looked down at the room to contemplate, eyes darting back forth between Johnny before he sighed “I trust you a lot Johnny so I want you to reassure me Sicheng wasn’t forced by someone or that he was running from anyone.”

This made Johnny raise a brow curiously, shaking his head at the tenseness of Taeil’s shoulder “If he wasn’t lying to me, then no. He just wanted a breath of fresh air.”

“Still, Sicheng is not safe without Kun accompanying him. He’s too-” he looked at Johnny with a knowing look that made him realize what Taeil was implying, the carefree way that the boy came to accept their friendship within minutes of meeting and Johnny clicked his tongue.

“I get it. Too naive?” he chuckled and Taeil nodded before he clapped a hand on Johnny’s shoulder.

“He doesn’t know much about the people outside the strict schedule he’s grown with on this ship and sometimes I pity him that he has to sneak his way just to go to the captain’s deck just to have someone else to talk to. He’s considered very valuable and it’s a pity that people only see him like a possession to own.”

“With all due respect, I don’t really know where you’re going with this discussion.” Johnny muttered as Taeil walked over the opened door, holding the handle as he looked over his shoulder to give Johnny a calculated look that made him feel like he’s being sized up.

“It’s not really much that I ask. Just to keep an eye on Sicheng if you do consider him your friend. I doubt everyone else has the same interest as you, especially because you may not know everyone in this ship as you think you do.”

These were the last words that Taeil spoke that struck a cord inside Johnny and he closed the door behind as he left, the taste of nicotine that coated his tongue making him sick in his stomach that he followed after counting down to make sure Taeil was long gone when he made a dash into the kitchen to gulp down some water to get rid of it.

He skipped the event and went straight to bed.

 

“You really need to try this!” Johnny doesn’t know what he wakes up to, fresh up for the day in comfortable clothes and walking into the dining hall to get some breakfast. He expected Ten hogging their usual table, plates filled with more food than he can eat to share with Johnny as Mark snuck off to taste some so he can take a break. The first part is true, Ten has more food than he can eat again that it was a miracle the stacked pancakes and chicken hasn’t fallen apart but Johnny stopped on his tracks because Ten is pushing the plate of waffles in front of someone that is decidedly not Mark.

Sicheng who is bundled up with his hair brushed to the side looking like a kid on Christmas day as he accepted the fork offered and taking a big bite with a loud hum. He is seated right next to the other as he is made to taste everything Ten got for the hell of it. When Sicheng only took a sip of the elder’s drink, he stuck out his tongue probably because Ten liked putting maple syrup and more sugar than coffee. Ten chuckled at his expression as he sipped his coffee before he realized that Johnny was still standing in shock.

Ten waved with one hand, “Hey! Over here before Sicheng-ah gets a hold of your share!” and Johnny wants to strangle him as Sicheng looked up with full cheeks from the chicken he was tearing apart. He gave a nod of acknowledgement before he continued devouring his food. It was kinda cute but Johnny is more worried how he ended up with Ten to dwell on it.

The moment he settled right in between the two, ignoring the teasing smile on Ten’s lips to whisper “What the hell,” harsh enough that it made the younger’s eyes narrow “What the hell, Ten.”

“Language around the child, Johnny boy.” The Thai male reached a hand over him so he could pat Sicheng’s cheek affectionately like they were old friends. It didn’t help that the latter seemed to nuzzle back at his palm like a kitten.

Still, Sicheng huffed a pouty “I am not that young, hyung.”

“He really shouldn’t be here anyways,” Johnny muttered underneath his breath and turned to the boy in question “Are you alone again? You really should be careful who you approach.”

Sicheng’s eyes widened, hands coming up to stifle the laughter that was spilling out his mouth and Johnny looked over his shoulder to see what was so funny to find Ten waving devil horns with his forefingers around Johnny’s head, stilling when he realized he was caught.

“Ten-hyung said you were his friend. I trust your judgement in making connections with people.” Sicheng gave a thumbs up that only made Johnny groan at how gullible he can sound. He ignored as Ten hit him on the side of his face with his arm when he reached over again to give Sicheng a high five.

“See, Johnny? I’m a delight!”

He shoveled the pancakes into his mouth, looking up to see Sicheng staring at him with a smile. It’s disconcerting to see him in daylight after what happened last night, the warning Taeil gave him ringing in his head and he almost had trouble swallowing down. “So, no Kun-ge with you as a chaperone?”

“Nope! I snuck out because I said that I was going to see Taeil-hyung.”

Johnny scoffed, shaking his head that dampened the smile on the younger’s face “You sure seem happy lying to people.”

Sicheng’s mouth turned to an _o_ shape, hand coming up near his face as if he’s unsure to close it over his lips and then pouted. Pouted enough that he can see his lower lip tremble and Johnny had to stop himself from patting his head because he will look out for this kid, scolding him is one of the agendas because he didn’t know how much danger he was putting himself into.

“It’s not like that…” he muttered and by god, if he had puppy ears, he could have dropped them in sadness with how he bowed his head down in embarrassment “I wanted to see you again because you seem fun.”

Ten choked on his coffee that he started coughing probably from the liquid going down the wrong pipe and Johnny didn’t even blink as he slapped his hand on Ten’s back to help him breathe again without having to get some coffee in his lungs. Johnny replied with a reassuring smile “You really don’t get how things work. Learn about bad touch and stranger danger next time.”

The boy slumped in his seat before he closed his eyes, petulantly jutting his chin as he stood up “If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave.”

Oh, dear. He offended him. “Sicheng, that’s not what I-”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence because Sicheng has already turned around to walk out, his back radiating so much disappointment even with how much he seemed to be keeping his posture straight like a diva or a spoiled child, if he was going to be honest. Johnny sighed, his heart heavy because he really didn’t intend for his words to be interpreted that way.

He turned to Ten, who simply took another spoonful of soup with an eyebrow raised. “Don’t look at me. I wanted to talk to him because he seemed lonely,” he loudly sipped the soup, mostly to annoy Johnny for no reason “Fix it yourself, Mr. Smooth Talker.”

“I hope karma bites you in the ass.” Johnny grumbled and he stuck out his tongue when Ten said something along the lines of being kinky before he stood up to go where Sicheng had walked off to, hoping he was alright.

There were more people on the deck, enjoying the gusts of salty air wearing their scarves and jackets to take a stroll around to stretch their legs than just sitting in their cabins being bored to death. He saw some men and women leaning on the railings to watch the water parting underneath the ship’s hull, children playing hopscotch with a crudely drawn pattern on the floor that was smudged at some places because it had been drawn there since the third trip Johnny had and some smoking at the corners talking amongst themselves. Nothing out of the ordinary that he walked off to where he thought that the boy might have stormed off to, sighing because it really wasn’t part of his morning routine looking after an adorable boy with no sense of the world.

How low has he sunk that he can’t be both responsible and smooth at the same time with his words and now he might have ruined his chances with Sicheng. Not that he might have any but he still wants to know more about him and Johnny took a deep breath as he tried to recall where the stairs to the captain’s deck was.

He found them soon enough and there’s Sicheng sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, wiping off traces of food off his mouth with a concentrated furrow of his brows. The pursed lips that twisted every once in awhile as Sicheng seemed to be thinking about something deeply made Johnny rethink if he should disturb him. He doesn’t make that decision as Sicheng stood up abruptly the minute he looked up, flushing from anger with his cheeks puffed, ready to fight.

“What do you want?”

Johnny didn’t respond as he reached out to poke at the middle of Sicheng’s brows, right where there was a bump from how much he was scrunching them “Stop doing that otherwise it’ll get stuck to your face.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sicheng muttered under his breath, slapping his hand away and crossing his arms “Is this to make fun of me again?”

“A short friendship we have and it’s already ruined for this? I don’t think so.”

Sicheng looked up as if waiting for someone to come out the captain’s control room to save him from this confrontation before he turned his gaze to Johnny, shifting his weight to one leg and throwing his head back “I don’t think you see me as your friend with how you treated me there.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. Difficult, he thought but he didn’t let it out and said “You don’t want to be taken advantage of but it pays to be careful instead of just letting yourself be led. You could get kidnapped.”

“I already know what it feels like and it’s nothing like that,” he stuck out his index fingers, moving them in front of him outwards to emphasize his point “Ten is a good person because he knows you. Besides,” his eyes narrowed “I know him from when he played for us when we had an auction last night.”

Oh, right. The band was playing then and Johnny still isn’t convinced it would be enough. He’s mortified that Sicheng already was kidnapped before and he’s still walking around without a care in the world. “That doesn’t mean you would speak to anyone that easily. You know someone you only saw once and you think you can trust them enough even when you know nothing about them? Especially with your reputation.”

“It’s not about that,” Sicheng sighed, “It’s about you really.”

“Me?”

“You accept we were friends the other day and now you act like you want to take it back,” the younger boy looked frustrated with whatever he’s trying to decipher in his head, thinking too hard about things that Johnny doesn’t know about before he nodded to himself “Why not spend a day with me?”

Johnny’s eyebrow rose, eyes narrowed in disbelief before he chuckled lightly “Sicheng, that’s not safe-”

A soft touch on the back of his hand that crept up inside his wrist, wide eyes almost begging him to agree and Johnny sighed in frustration as all the fight just washed off of him. Sicheng is smiling up at him, excited like he already knew the answer before Johnny even formulated it and there’s a defeated noise that Johnny makes at the back of his throat as he said okay.

Sicheng’s smirk looked no less than victorious.

 

The first thing they did was walk down the engine room.

He’s began to realize more and more that Sicheng is fascinated by anything that he found. Like a child in the middle of a toy store during Christmas, he gasped in delight as he bounced around the room tilting his body over the rails that separated the walkways from the huge machinery that powered the ship. Sometimes he tried to sneak over them by climbing the rails as it was very easy to maneuver them with how his body was practically soft enough he can just bend over to reach a knob that made him curious and Johnny had to grab him by the waist and haul him back to the designated area.

“You said you’d behave.” he warned him and Sicheng gave him an innocent smile in reply before he grabbed Johnny’s hand to pull him back upstairs for more exploration. He really doesn’t seem to mind that they’re getting stares for holding hands and that Johnny might just be a touch too red in the face as he decided to walk into one of the more expensive cafes in the ship.

Sicheng, however, isn’t fazed by the way that he is being gawked at by the customers, most who seemed to be whispering about why the fabled boy whose company costed riches would be leisurely strolling inside with a commoner. They were old and quite snotty, Johnny observed with a little irritation who stared back at him with their noses turned that he has the urge to stick his tongue at them for no reason than to annoy them. Sicheng doesn’t even care as he greeted the person on the counter, a fair boy with blond hair that smiled at him, dimples deepening on his cheeks as he did so.

“Sicheng!” he said, giving him a high five “What are you doing here too early?”

“For sweets!” Sicheng chirped happily, leaning on the counter with a gleeful expression that made the blond ruffle his hair “Jaehyun, serve two please!”

Jaehyun raised a brow at that and looked behind Sicheng with confusion as he is greeted with Johnny’s small nod of acknowledgement before he turned back to Sicheng. He reached over the counter to place his arm around the younger, whispering something into his ear that made Sicheng hit him by the shoulder “He’s not. Shut up.”

There’s an unimpressed glare from him and then he pushed him away with a faked smile “Well, come on and introduce him to me. It’d be rude not to, you know?” he said in a sweet voice that made Johnny raise a brow, reminded of a child that was going to cause trouble and walked up the counter right next to Sicheng.

“Seo Youngho. Just Johnny.” he said, reaching a hand out that Jaehyun took and shook with a surprisingly strong grip.

“Well, Jung Yoonoh. But just Jaehyun.” He copied Johnny’s words, releasing his hand as he leaned on his palm with an inquiring gaze.

Johnny nodded, quirking up to diffuse the way that he’s being dissected with “You look like a Jeffrey to me.”

This made Jaehyun chuckle a little too loud much to Sicheng’s surprise and he slapped his hand on the counter before looking at Sicheng wiping the tear from the corner of his eye. “I like the humor on this one. Different from the sass your guardian has.”

Sicheng pouted, shaking his head in exasperation “I’m hungry.” he said, unimpressed that he’s being deprived of sweets by this drawn-out introduction that Johnny pinched his cheek to pacify him. It only annoyed him further as he rubbed the abused area.

Jaehyun only hummed as he finally went to pick up two slices of pie that he baked for the day, letting the two sit by the booth where Sicheng immediately put his head on with a prolonged sigh. Johnny clicked his tongue at it then stretched his arms over his head to get rid of the tired feeling that’s starting to creep back. He hid his yawn with the back of his hand, only realizing that Sicheng is staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Your hands look nice,” The younger chuckled, reaching over to grab Johnny’s wrist without warning and pulled it close to his face to examine the knuckles and the lines on his palm. He was smiling as he turned it over a little then nodded to himself. Johnny can’t deny it’s cute and Sicheng laid his other hand palm to palm flat against his, gasping “Hey, they’re almost the same size!”

Johnny can’t take the rapid beating of his heart at him, afraid that the thumb from the hand Sicheng was pressing on the inside of his wrist can tell the jump in his pulse. He stared at the way that Sicheng’s eyes are twinkling before he tilted his hand and fit his fingers between the spaces of Sicheng’s, hands that are sturdier than the candle-like appearance suggested yet soft all the same. Just like the owner.

“Oh.”

Sicheng is blushing, ducking his head with a nervous laugh that sent Johnny’s stomach torn with butterflies. He tried to take back his hand to save the boy embarrassment but then Sicheng is intertwining their fingers in turn that surprised the both of them.

Then there is a plate that is placed forcibly atop their hands that they let go, Jaehyun’s smiling face coming into view while he put the lemon pie on the table. There is a teasing quirk to his smile, something that made Sicheng glare at him and pointedly snatching the fork given to him. Johnny didn’t look away when Jaehyun gave him a questioning look.

As Sicheng ate, looking away from the two, Jaehyun took a chair from the other table and sat down, facing Johnny before he asked “How did you come across Sicheng again?”

Amidst his bite of the cream, he shrugged “He came across me if I were honest.”

“That sounds like something a kidnapper would say but I believe you.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, cutting a bigger piece to eat. He is about to put it in his mouth but Jaehyun seemed to be intent on interrogating him as he pulled the plate away before he could stab his fork that it made a thunk on the table top. There’s a flare of irritation that made him grip his fork tighter before he gave him a tight-lipped smile “Well, I really don’t think it’s that important whether or not you trust me because that was what happened.”

Jaehyun narrowed his eyes, lips smacking as he got lost in thought. Sicheng stopped eating to look at them in worry and he had managed to finish his cake at a short amount of time, staring longingly at the half-eaten pie that Jaehyun had his fingers at the rim of the plate. Johnny noticed, sighing.

“If you want to talk about the implications of kidnapping, at least give Sicheng the pie to entertain himself.” This had the boy in question perk up, flushing at being caught and Johnny reached over to stab his fork on the cake, lifting it up to Sicheng who graciously took it with no shame. He smiled as he bit into it, cheeks full and looking like he had been given the best present.

Jaehyun made a sound of amusement that he reached over to pat Johnny’s back, a little too hard to be considered friendly but he seemed to have sorted whatever doubts he had about Johnny. Considering that he is still pressing his foot firmly on Johnny’s toes, it might mean something.  “Ah, you sly dog know how to get into his heart.”

“It’s really nothing like that-” Johnny said, halting when he realized that it started like that and the knowing look on Jaehyun’s face didn’t make him feel any better about it. “Sicheng is just my friend.”

“Like us, Jaehyun!” Sicheng piped up, crumbs on his cheeks and around his mouth that Jaehyun threw a piece of napkin at him with the warning “Wipe your face, sheesh.”

“He has a knack for befriending anything that moves,” Johnny muttered underneath his breath, earning a kick on his leg and he whipped his head at Jaehyun who only raised his arms with a shake of his head. “Tell me, did he announce you were friends the first time you met?”

Another kick and Johnny is still looking at Jaehyun to find that he isn’t moving, pointedly looking at Sicheng who is innocently wiping his lips. He tilted his head, smiling. “It’s not good to talk about people when they’re close.”

Jaehyun just laughed.

They bid goodbye after that, thinking it was better that Sicheng got back before Kun found out that he wasn’t with Taeil like he said. Jaehyun flicked Sicheng on his forehead, scolding him for dragging Taeil into trouble because of his lies that the two of them almost were pulling at each other’s throats if it weren’t for Johnny separating them. He can’t deny that they were close, if the way they seemed to talk in their own language that Johnny got lost when they started doing some weird word relay that he can’t catch up to and only making sense that Sicheng is looking at him once in awhile that it felt uncomfortable.

Sicheng walked out before him to go to the bathroom, leaving Johnny standing near the counter as Jaehyun is wiping the rim of the cup he finished washing. There’s something mature about him despite being the same age as Sicheng that Johnny wondered how they even managed to meet if Sicheng didn’t have a lot of time to interact with other people.

As if sensing his thought, Jaehyun cleared his throat “Kun drinks coffee here and Sicheng tags along sometimes. Don’t get your panties in a twist thinking about it,” Johnny raised a brow at him but he continued “Sicheng likes you a lot to actually bring you here. He usually is more wary of people but he’s too comfortable with you.”

Oh. Johnny bit his lip, embarrassed at how easy the heat came to his cheeks and he hid it with a cough “I’m not sure why that really matters.”

“Hah, you really think he’s unaware. Naive maybe but not that stupid. Sicheng has that effect on drawing people and he knows it which is why he is always with Kun. He’s not the confronting type because it would be useless when people just come to him instead.”

This made him sigh “I still want to take care of him.”

Jaehyun stopped wiping and looked right into Johnny’s eyes, smirk on his lips that it didn’t fit his pretty face “You’re already in too deep.”

It didn’t make sense. But Johnny doesn’t have time to dwell on it as Sicheng came back inside with a panicked look, out of breath. His clothes were rumpled too that Johnny immediately assumed the worst, meeting him halfway and inspecting him for any wounds or bruises.

“Are you okay? What happened?” he asked, trying not to panic.

“No time!” Sicheng shrieked, grabbing Johnny by the arm as he ran out to the other direction he came from, dragging Johnny who struggled to match his steps.  Jaehyun waved at them as they left, his smile present until he disappeared from view when Sicheng rounded the corner to climb up a flight of stairs.

They ran through the halls, passing by people who seemed to be unfazed with how Sicheng is dragging Johnny and they even sidestepped to let him pass that he is actually unsure how these people find this normal. Especially since Johnny looked like he’s confused and frazzled at the same time, eyebrows knitted and mouth pursed while Sicheng’s panicky expression didn’t help. A few more halls, turning through the corners until they were outside once more and on the upper deck where the wind was strong that Johnny’s hair whipped at his face, sputtering as he finally pulled his hand away to fix his hair.

Sicheng leaned on the rails with both hands to catch his breath, releasing a long exhale and pumping out his hands in the air with a loud whoop that startled some people.

Johnny found it amusing. But he’s worried that something might have happened in the bathroom, moving closer to brush his shoulder on his, “You’re okay now?”

A nod. “I am,” he looked at Sicheng, unconvinced that the boy gnawed on his lower lip with his eyes not meeting his. It takes a few more seconds of this and Sicheng sighed “It’s okay now.”

Taeil’s words came back to him, fear running through his body that anger is starting to mingle with it. He should have walked him there, should have kept a closer eye but he didn’t want to make Sicheng feel like he can’t do anything on his own. It might be suffocating to always have someone breathing down your neck and Johnny is not that close to him to give him that type of scolding. He doesn’t know to approach the question whether or not Sicheng was cornered in the bathroom by some person who wanted to kidnap him so he does what he does best: make it awkward by blurting the wrong thing.

“Well, at least you got fast feet.” He joked mostly to diffuse the tension and it worked Sicheng’s mouth curves immediately,  chortling that his fist pressed to his lips to stop his laughter. It isn’t really what he expected to get from him and he laughed nervously in return.

“What can I say. Those times trying to run away from Kun-ge was worth it,” Johnny doesn’t really want to push the issue but he doesn’t need to because Sicheng bumps shoulders with him and adds “They thought a kid could lure me out and they got me by the wrist but I got away.”

Johnny hated how nonchalant he sounded while he’s starting to feel his anger clouding his judgement that he wants to storm back and make Sicheng point out who those people are so he can beat them up. The calmness of the boy’s face is unnerving that he wants to ask him how often is he in that position to not care but his eyes stray down to his wrists, peeking out his sleeves with a ring of red shaped like fingers around the skin and he felt like he wants to kill someone.

“Jesus christ, how can you be calm when you almost got kidnapped?” he almost shouted, almost but he managed to tone it down to a hiss as he reached for Sicheng’s wrists to inspect it. It wasn’t that bad but it looked painful and now that he was holding his hand, turning and twisting to check if it was okay, did he realize both of them were trembling. Sicheng’s smile is still there, eyes shining when he stares up at him and Johnny realized why he wasn’t as angry as he was.

Sicheng shook his head “It’s not like they won’t be taken away by the police once the ship docks. It happens a lot but I was more worried that they saw you with me and took you too,”  There’s something nostalgic about the way he says it that makes Johnny tighten his grip and Sicheng slides his hand to slot between his once more, squeezing it in assurance “Can’t lose another just when I just met you so it was better if I trusted my intuition.”

There was so much more that Johnny wanted to ask, so much he wanted to say but he only closes his fingers around Sicheng’s. With a sigh, he tugged him as they started to walk again “You’re a just whole lot of trouble, aren’t you?”

“Maybe. Misery loves company.”

Sicheng just started skipping with every step, swinging their held hands with a big smile that Johnny didn’t have any room to argue. He was content walking a few more paces with him just enjoying the sights and explaining the areas where Sicheng was unfamiliar with before they ended up in front of the stairs where they started, the night already creeping through the sky with the stars twinkling against the indigo and oranges mingling in the horizon. Taeil was walking down from his post, probably to rest for the night and letting his second man the boat before he spotted the two of them. Sicheng waved at him but the elder was more focused on their hands that Johnny awkwardly cleared his throat, loosening his hold until he could slip his hand out of Sicheng’s.

He didn’t seem to mind as he rushed over to Taeil, gathering him into a big hug. “Hyung!” he chirped before he let go of him “Hello~!”

Taeil returned his smile albeit forced and patted him on his head “Hi, Sicheng. This is a...” he pursed his lips before setting with “This is a surprise to see you with Johnny again.” Taeil seemed to not really know what to do now but he tried to hide it from Sicheng. It could be because of the last time but Johnny can tell that he’s trying not to let it bother him too much.

“Well, if it’s any more assuring, he lied to his guardian about visiting you to get away.” Johnny blurted out, Sicheng gasping and yelling “Traitor!” in return.

“Why did you have to tell him that?” the latter hissed.

“What? It would be more convincing to have Taeil in on your lie, you brat. He’ll get in trouble over you, you know.”

Sicheng pouted, cheeks puffed up and started to reach over to tug Johnny’s ear right at his stud earring that he yelped, swatting his hand away with a huff that intensified the boy’s pout.

Taeil laughed at the two of them. He put an arm around Sicheng, shaking his head “Come on. I’ll get you back to your room before Kun starts having a heart attack over you.”

“Kun-ge probably is playing with the X-BOX with flowers in his hair so I wouldn’t be worried.”

Sicheng moved Taeil’s arm off with a shrug, walking in front of Johnny who raised a brow at him before he leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek. There’s no warning, just the softness of lips on his skin and the scent of vanilla bean before Sicheng whispered a thank you against his ear and running back to Taeil’s side as if it didn’t happen.

“We’ll get going now, Johnny.” Taeil waved at him, eyes suspicious but he is too busy being dragged by his the arm as Sicheng complained about being hungry to talk to Johnny more.

He wouldn’t be able to get a word out of him anyways, his face filled with disbelief before his phone went off with a text from Ten asking where he was. Johnny didn’t try to hide the skip in his step or the pink on his cheeks.

 

Ten’s beaming at him, something that he didn’t understand at first.

He’s not with the band today, sitting in the table right in front of the elevated part of the room where he recognized Kun standing. He seemed to exasperated when he saw Johnny, fixing the tie to his suit with a shake of his head and walking over to whisper into one of the large men who looked like stereotypical bodyguard’s ear. It was comical how he had to tiptoe to do so and Johnny stifled a laugh.

“Hey, what do you think?” The teasing tone Ten adapted was making him nervous for some reason, especially how he had been forced to wear a suit for the occasion. Johnny’s not sure how he ended up as a guest but he knew that the only one to blame was Ten.

Mark came over his table once to give him a flute of champagne with a smile and thumbs up before he left, confusing the elder even more. The lights were starting to dim and he almost jumped out his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder, Donghyuck’s leer coming to view that he glared at the kid.

“What?” he asked, eyes looking at the front as the music started. Donghyuck moved closer, eyes glinting about something that only he knew and was dying for Johnny to realize but he kept silent. He’s waiting for something.

There’s a soft tune, almost Oriental before Sicheng comes out from the darkness in a white flowing changsan, gold buttons glinting the light. His face is serious, poised straight before he started to move. Arms locked with aggression only to release the tension with a soft curl of his long fingers, his feet falling to a rhythm and dipping as he descended his arm down with every movement. With every arch of his hand, his body followed in fluid motions that made him seem as if he was flying through the air. There’s a passion in his eyes that entranced everyone in the room, wild and uninhibited as he caught Johnny’s eyes just as he took a few steps back with his hips moving with the beat, smile mischievous. He’s beautiful, hair falling into disarray as he does a backflip that landed him on his feet, breath straining but he was shining with happiness that Johnny couldn’t stop himself from standing up and clapping.

The room followed, echoing in excitement and Donghyuck howled in glee as he slapped Johnny’s back. “I knew you’d find him.”

“Thanks but did you really have to hit me?” he said, ruffling the boy’s hair before whispering “I can make you and Mark spend time together as a prize.”

It might be dark but the blush on his tan skin was unmistakable and Johnny wanted to pinch his cheek. But he doesn’t get the chance to, Kun’s voice cutting through the noise through the speakers curt and polite.

“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic, Sicheng. Is there any reason why you’re doing better than usual?” Kun’s gaze directed to where Sicheng was staring at, right at Johnny “Any reason at all?”

“Perhaps.” he answered, hands behind his back and laughing brightly. Why is he glowing? Why is Johnny’s suffering through this when he could have just skipped this part again.

“So, in line with how we wanted to make this day special for Sicheng, we decided that this time we’ll let him pick who he wants to spend the evening with,” A loud call erupted but Kun shushed them down “It’s something Sicheng agreed to after so much discussion, after all.”

Sicheng nodded, taking the microphone to say “I hope that it would be fair to think of what I want just once, hm?” and he took a deep breath, Kun getting his mic back with a small smile. Johnny is still confused at this point but Sicheng started to walk.

Right towards his table.

He waited with baited breath, his heart thumping too fast against his chest that he had to loosen his tie to stop feeling so constrained. Sicheng looked at him, confident that he doesn’t know what to expect. His thoughts are floating inside his mind like they are running in a maze of confusion and anticipation before Sicheng is right next to him, brilliant and ethereal that he couldn’t help but sigh.

“What’s this?” he asked, nervous but he cradled his chin on his hand to look calm. Up close, it’s hard to not feel like it’s all a dream but Ten’s yelling in delight and he doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed for him or himself.  Sicheng doesn’t say anything for awhile, eyes gauging his reaction before he extended his hand. Johnny stared at it and chuckled “I rather spend more than just one night of your company,” he stifled the cringing expression that crept up his mind and shook his head “That sounded wrong.”

Sicheng laughed at him, not minding it at all. “I know.”

Now, that made Johnny raise his head to look right into his eyes. He’s flushed red, from the dancing maybe but he’s biting his lower lip like he usually did in his nervousness that Johnny felt like he missed the bigger picture.

“You spent the day with me. That was Kun’s deal. But I realized,” Sicheng closed his eyes, the flush overtaking his face that it looked so endearing with his long lashes and pouty lips “I want to spend my whole life knowing you more. I want to spend time with you more as you show me about the world I didn’t know about. I want to know more about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. I want to be with you, if you let me.”

Johnny’s jaw dropped and his heart almost leapt out his chest. He chuckled nervously, looking over Donghyuck who gave him a thumbs up and then over to Ten who is shaking his arms over his head in a way to encourage him. He looked back to Sicheng who’s waiting for him to make his move.

He held his hand, smiling “I would like that.”

The whole room cheered in delight and Sicheng didn’t hesitate to pull Johnny closer before he pecked him on the corner of his lip, only intensifying the noise. Kun is yelling in the background about Sicheng being an uncivilized brat for kissing on the first date and Sicheng retaliated by saying it wasn’t the first.

Needless to say, Kun managed to scold Sicheng’s ear off about honesty and not dragging anyone into his whims while Johnny stood by.


End file.
